Breaking it Down: How Automation Processes Get Developed
In this ongoing series, we ask members of the team critical guiding questions that drive the way we approach our work with ChatQ. In this piece, Marketing Lead Hana Takada discusses the process and brains behind developing bot architecture with Backend Developers Manu Datta and Khoi Hoang.
Hana: Let’s talk about the process of how bots get developed, breaking it all down. But first, let’s get to know how you two got here. Manu, Khoi, where were you before?
Manu: Before ChatQ, I worked at a FinTech company that helped companies reduce their capital requirements.
Khoi: Before ChatQ, I was a full stack developer working mostly on web applications. Because of the nature of my work, I was lucky to be able to work in many different fields, like security and data mining.
Hana: Can you walk me through the workflow from ideation to creation?
Manu: I believe in iterative development. Ideas tend to come not all at once, but gradually. I like to build something quick, and working the iteration over different ideas and seeing the paths we take towards the final product.
Khoi: Workflow very much depends on company culture, but with constantly changing tech, developers need to adapt as well. The designing parse is the most important part in my opinion, as it decides how long the development process takes and how effective the final product will be.
ChatQ uses scrum agile process which emphasizes speed, flexibility, and communication. The design is constantly changing and evolving through the development process.
The first step is to define a clear focus: what are we going to do, and what are the requirements we need to meet.
Then, we spend time researching and designing the product. This is important, as modern day apps consistently set high bars on complexity and depth. The standard is high, and time is short, so a good design is important to save time and efficiently use team resources.
After that, we develop and feedback in a loop, which constantly evolves the product until it meets our expectations.
Hana: What is the biggest challenge in developing the backend architecture to support smooth bot functioning?
Manu: The biggest challenge is to reduce complexity, and come up with a smarter design that creates efficiencies for computing costs and maintenance by tech support.
Khoi: The biggest challenge in my opinion is to understand user needs and expectations. Users come from different mindsets and they themselves at times do not know what they want, so designing bots that are useful for our customers is the highest priority.
Hana: Finally, what do you think are the possibilities with automated tools within the FinTech space?
Manu: I think the biggest possibilities are within real-time technical indicators on which trading decisions can be made available. Currently this technology is only available for very few people inside large companies. Automation will help to democratize access, so everyone can participate on the same level playing field.
Khoi: Automated tools are important, not only for FinTech, but for any product development process. Traditional ways of developing products are slow and prone to human error. Automation tools help developers save time from repeating busy work, and dedicate themselves on things that matter, like being creative and other problem solving.
In finance, automation tools are important because human error can cost lots of money. The financial industry is unforgiving and a high competition environment, meaning that making mistakes here are met with heavy punishments. Automation tools reduce the risks associated with having heavy human involvement.
Hana: Awesome, thank you so much! I can’t wait to try it out for myself.
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